2nd league
Spectacle in the free game – promotion race as a city duel
FC St. Pauli remains leaders in the 2nd league. photo
© David Inderlied/dpa
Seven goals for zero euros: the free game in Düsseldorf was a complete success. HSV is making up ground in the two-league duel with St. Pauli for promotion.
With a seven-goal spectacle, the spectators got their money’s worth at the free game in Düsseldorf The promotion race in the 2nd Bundesliga is developing into a Hamburg city duel. On Saturday, Fortuna celebrated a 4-3 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern after being 3-0 down in front of 52,000 fans who had come to the stadium for free thanks to sponsorship money.
St. Pauli at the top
This means that the Rhinelanders remain close to the two Hamburg clubs FC St. Pauli and HSV, who are currently setting the tone in the lower house of football. FC St. Pauli was able to maintain its top spot despite a 2-2 (0-1) draw at SC Paderborn, but lost its lead over HSV, who won 2-0 (2-0) against SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
A brace from Ao Tanaka (36th/63rd) and further goals from Matthias Zimmermann (49th) and Felix Klaus (57th) thrilled the Fortuna crowd, who were able to enjoy the first of three free games. Richmond Tachie (21st), an own goal from Düsseldorf’s Jamil Siebert (30th), and former Fortuna professional Marlon Ritter (32nd) gave the guests a three-goal lead.
Cup toss
It remains unclear, however, whether the Düsseldorfers are still threatened with repercussions: FCK striker Ragnar Ache was apparently hit by a half-filled plastic bottle thrown from the stands after Lauterer’s third goal. Ache was initially able to continue playing, but had to be substituted shortly before half-time with suspected serious ligament injuries after he sprained his ankle.
After goals from Johannes Eggestein (48th) and Jackson Irvine (78th), St. Pauli seemed close to their fifth win in a row on Saturday. But Filip Bilbija’s equalizer for Paderborn’s strong counterattack (82′) caused late disillusionment. At least the guests defied their first deficit of the season thanks to Florent Muslija’s dream goal. (9th).
HSV on the road to success
At the same time, HSV seized the opportunity. Thanks to goals from Jonas Meffert (16th) and Robert Glatzel (45th +4), the former Bundesliga dinosaur achieved their fifth home win in their fifth game on Saturday. Only the worse goal difference prevented the first jump to first place since the fifth matchday.
In the third Saturday game, Wehen Wiesbaden increased VfL Osnabrück’s relegation worries. In the duel between the promoted teams, coach Tobias Schweinsteiger’s team lost 0:2 (0:1) and remains second to last in the table. Coach Markus Kauczinski’s team climbed into midfield after six league games without a win. Lee Hyun-Ju (9th minute) and Robin Heußer (70th) scored for Wiesbaden in front of 14,491 spectators.
Hannover wins in Magdeburg
Hannover 96 is becoming more and more a candidate for promotion. Thanks to Cedric Teuchert’s winning goal in the 61st minute to make it 2-1 (1-0) over the team from Magdeburg, which has now been winless for five games, the North Germans consolidated their place in third place in the table on Friday Circle of top teams.
SV Elversberg continues to do surprisingly well. In a 3-0 (2-0) win over bottom team Eintracht Braunschweig, the promoted team remained unbeaten for the sixth time in a row. On the other hand, Eintracht coach Jens Härtel has to worry about his job after seven games without a win. “First of all, Jens is our coach. And I assume that he will remain so,” commented sports director Peter Vollmann, but announced talks “with the committees” such as the supervisory board and management for this weekend.